By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
The MoneyLion 300 at Talladgea Superspeedway was a day of going from the back to the front multiple times for John Hunter Nemechek.
Before the green flag unfurled, Nemechek had to start at the rear of the field for having a flat tire after a 15th place qualifying effort.
On Lap 31, Nemechek and Brandon Brown were penalized for locking bumpers on the backstretch.
“As the first car, you can’t do anything about it,” Nemecheck said. “You are sitting there wide open, holding the steering wheel and trying not to get turned. It definitely sucked to go to the back twice, but I feel like we passed the most cars today.”
Despite being penalized for locking bumpers, Nemechek undersrands that it was one of those racing deals.
“It’s a judgement call. I was pretty sure the 86 was locked on for sure. The back end of my car was free and it wasn’t tap-tap-tap. It’s just one of those deals. I was frustrated at the time, but you have to rebound from those things
As the team rebounded from the penalties, Nemechek believes the No. 23 team at GMS Racing has elevated its program since Daytona.
“Our Camaro was fast. We stepped up our program I feel like from
Daytona to here. We weren’t good in practice yesterday. We wholesaled the whole
car after. The joke in the garage was that superspeedway racing shouldn’t be
this hard. We got it way better for today. I feel like we have a direction going
to Daytona. I’m excited.”